Agitating apparatus for the supply hoppers of plastic-concrete pumps



Jan. 14, 1941. c. F. BALL 2,228,898

AGITATING APPARATUS FOR THE SUPPLY HOPPERS OF PLASTIC-CONCRETE PUMPSFiled Jan. 1'7,l 1938 l 2 Sheets-Sheet l 11111111. llllllllll Jan. i4,1941. Q F BALL 2,228,898

AGITAIING APPARATUS FOR THE SUPPLY HOPPERS OF PLASTIC-CONCRETE PUMPSFiled Jan. 17, 1938 2 Sheets--SheeI 2 Patented Jan. 14, 1941 UNITEDSTATES PATENT @Fifiifh AGITATING APPARATUS FOR THE SUPPLY HOPPERS FPLASTIC-CONCRETE PUMPS poration of Wisconsin Application January 17,1938, Serial No. 185,422

4 Claims.

The invention relates to agitating apparatus for the supply hoppers ofplastic-concrete pumps, typical. examples of which may be found in theprior U. S. Patent No. 2,017,975 granted October 5 22, 1935, to J. C.Kooyman, and in my prior Patent No. 2,062,200, granted November 24,1936.

InV feeding such pumps, the plastic mixture is usually intermittentlydeposited from a concrete mixer of either the stationary or transit typeinto a conica-l hopper having sufficient capacity to` insure acontinuous feed to the pump during intervals between such deposits. Thehoppers ordtn narily surmount the inlet valve of the pump and feeddirectly thereto by gravity.

It is well known that plastic concrete mixtures, particularly the wettermixes, unless kept in motion have a marked tendency to segregate, i. e.for the heavier aggregates to work their way to the bottom, with thelighter aggregates and the binder floating above them. There is also` atendency toward mechanical binding or interlocking of the pieces ofaggregate-as distinguished from setting resulting from chemicalreactions in the binderwhich retards or prevents flow of the mixture.

It frequently becomes necessary in large concrete placement operationsto temporarily stop pumping While mixture remains in the hopper,

, as for example, to relocate the discharge end of the line, and it hastherefore been found highly desirable to provide means for agitating themixture in the hopper to prevent segregation and/or mechanicalinterlocking or binding of the aggregates during such period. It hasalso been found that when the pumpis running portions of the mixture inthe conical hopper have a tendency to feed faster than other portions,thereby causing channeling with the result that the less active portionstend to become stagnant and harden.

The present invention has for one of its pri mary objects the provision`of agitating or remixing apparatus for these conical hoppers which willeffectively maintain the mixture in good working condition by preventingsegregation, channeling and mechanical interlock of the aggregates,whether the pump be running or stopped.

It is also an object of the invention to provide apparatus of thischaracter functioning adjacent 5I) the upper portions of the conical`walls of the hopper to work the mixture in this location away from saidwalls and toward the center, thereby preventing stagnation and hardeningof the mixture in this zone.

6B A still further object is to provide agitating which will appear asthe description proceeds, the 10'.

invention consists in the novel details of con struction, andcombinations and arrangements of parts, more fully hereinafter describedand particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings formy1.51

ing a part oi this specification, in which like reference charactersdesignate like parts in all the views- Figure 1 is a side elevationalview of a concrete vpunip of the general type disclosed and claimed in20 the above mentioned Kooyman and Ball patents, having one form ofagitating apparatus constructed in accordance with the presentwinvention applied to the supply hopper thereof;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevational View on a 2,5 enlarged scale of thehopper and the agitating apparatus illustrated in Figure 1, as seen fromthe left of said figure, a portion of the parts being broken away andshown in section;

Fig. 3 is a central vertical sectional view taken 30f approximately onthe plane indicated by the line 3--3 of Fig. 2 looking in the directionof the arrows;

Fig. Il, is a plan View partly broken away of the parts shown in Fig. 3,and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevational View of a slightlymodified form of the invention.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, the pump comprises a chassis I0upon which is mounted a Working cylinder I I in which reciprocates apiston 40 i2 which is moved back and forth by crank mechanism, notshown, but actuated by a crank shaft I3 which is driven by spur gearingI0 from a countershaft I5. The countershaft in turn is driven by meansof a V-belt drive I6 driving the pulley I1 45 carried by thecountershaft I5 and deriving power from a pulley I8 which is looselymounted upon a jack shaft I9, see Fig. 2, which shaft is journaled inan` extension` 2'0 of a housing 2 I. This housing contains a main clutchand suitable gearing for transmitting power to the shaft Iii from thepower shaft 22 of an internal combustion engine or other prime movercontained within a housing 23 mounted upon thepump frame'.

The working cylinder II has associated with it an inlet valve 25 and anoutlet valve 26 the latter of which discharges to the pipe line 21through which the plastic concrete is conducted from the pump to thepoint of placement. The inlet valve 25 is surmounted by the supplyhopper 35 which feeds directly to the inlet passage of valve 25 bygravity and which may have mounted in its lower portion an agitatingmechanism 3| of the type described and claimed in my prior co-pendingapplication, Ser. No. 740,328, led August 17, 1934, now Patent No.2,116,473, granted May 3, 1938 which agitating mechanism may be drivenby a chain drive 32, see Fig. l, from the crank shaft I3.

The agitating mechanism constituting the present invention comprises anannulus 35, here shown as being constructed of angle iron, whichsurrounds the upper edge of the hopper 36 and has rigidly secured to itone or more agitating blades or paddles 36 extending downwardly into theupper portion of the hopper parallel to and closely adjacent the conicalwalls thereof, as will be readily understood from Figs. 3 and 4. Theseagitating members have inclined portions 31 which closely approach theinner surface of the hopper walls and as the members are rotated in aclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4, they serve to work the plasticconcrete resting upon this portion of the walls away therefrom andtoward the center, thereby preventing stagnation of the mixture in thiszone and consequent hardening of it upon the said walls. The agitationthus provided also prevents segregation of the heavier and lighterconstituents and tends to keep the mixture in good working condition.

The annulus 35 is provided with a plurality of depending brackets 4l!arranged at spaced intervals and secured to an annular gear 4| which ismounted for concentric rotation relative to the hopper axis upon aplurality of circumferentially spaced supporting rollers 42 which arejournalled in brackets 43 welded or otherwise rigidly secured to asupporting ring of angle iron 44, which in turn is welded or otherwiserigidly secured to the exterior of the hopper a short distance below itsupper edge, as is clearly shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

For driving the annular gear 4| a pinion 45 is provided meshingtherewith, which pinion is carried by a vertical shaft 46 journalled ina gear housing 41 which is supported by a suitable racket 41 welded orotherwise rigidly secured to the exterior of the hopper. Obviously, achain and sprocket drive may be substituted for the spur gear 4| andpinion 45, if desired. The housing 41 contains suitable bevel, worm,helical or other gearing for transmitting power to the shaft 46 from thehorizontal shaft 48, which shaft is provided with a sprocket 45 aboutwhich passes a chain 5i) which also engages a sprocket 5| rigidlysecured to the jack shaft I9, see Fig. 2. The agitating mechanism isthus constantly driven from the jack shaft E9 whenever the master clutchin housing 2| is engaged; and suitable manual clutch mechanism isassociated with the sprocket 5| for engagement with and disengagementfrom the V-belt pulley i6 whereby provision is made for stopping thedrive to the pump piston l2 while permitting continued operation of theagitator. As best shown in Fig. 2, this clutch mechanism comprises amanually operable member 55 slidably mounted upon the jack shaft i6 andprovided with a detent ball or plunger 56 adapted to be received in oneor the other cf the circumferential grooves 51 provided adjacent theouter end of shaft I9. The clutch member 55 also carries a plurality ofpins 58 slida-bly mounted in apertures 59 extending through the hub ofsprocket 5| with the inner ends of the said pins 58 being receivable inand removable from recesses 6U formed in the hub of the V-belt pulleyI8. It thus results that when the parts are in the positions illustratedin Fig. 2, power will be transmitted from shaft I9 through sprocket 5|and pins 58 to pulley I8 and the crank shaft |3 of the pump therebyactuated, whereas if the member 55 be manually moved toward the right,as viewed in Fig. 2, until its detent 56 engages the right hand groove51 the inner ends of the pins 58 will be withdrawn from the recesses 60in pulley |8 and the drive to the pump crank shaft I3 will be thusbroken. Engagement and disengagement of clutch pins 58 is preferablyeifected with the parts at rest, through initial disengagement of themain clutch in housing 2|, as obviously this will facilitate entry orwithdrawal of pins 58 into and from recesses 60.

As will be apparent from what has been above described, when the jackshaft I9 is rotated by the prime mover within the housing 23 itsmovement will be transmitted through the chain and sprocket mechanism49, 56 and 5|, shaft 48, the gearing within housing 41 and shaft 46 tothe pinion 45 and thence to the .annular gear 4|, which in turn willtransmit the motion through the brackets 46 to the angle iron annulus 35and the agitating members 36 thereby continuously agitating the mixturewithin the upper portion of the hopper 36 and especially that portionimmediately adjacent its upper inclined walls. If the clutch mechanism55 be in engagement as shown in Fig. 2, the pump piston I2 will bereciprocated from the crank shaft I3 and the mixture which is within thehopper 36 will be drawn into the cylinder through the inlet valve 25 andthen expelled through the outlet valve 26 to the pipe line 21. On theother hand, if the clutch mechanism 55 be disengaged the pump drive willbe stopped though the agitator drive will continue.

Instead of having the agitating members 36 rigidly constructed asillustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, the said members may bepivotally mounted as indicated at 6U in Fig. 5 to suitable brackets 6|carried by the annulus 35. This will permit the agitators to swing awayfrom the hopper 3|) should a piece of aggregate be caught beneath them.

'Io prevent the entire mass of mixture in the hopper being bodily movedaround by the blades 36 without agitation, I preferably provide a xed rplate or baffle 65, which may have rigidly secured to it a rod or pipe66, which is adjustably clamped in the split end 61 of a horizontallyextending arm 68. The other end of said arm is adjustably secured to theupper end of a rod or standard 69, carried by a bracket 10, welded orotherwise secured to the hopper 30. The arm 68 may be secured onstandard 69 in various arcuate positions to properly dispose the baffle65 in the hopper, and the said baiile may in turn be arcuately andvertically adjusted relative to arm 68 through the clamping connectionbetween the split end 61 of the arm and the rod 66, as will be readilyunderstood. The said baffle may thus be adjusted to a variety ofpositions, as occasion may require, and since it does not move afterbeing adjusted, it acts as a xed plow which prevents rotation of themixture mass as a body and insures the desired agitation.

While one form of the invention has been illustrated and described it isobvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details ofconstruction as well as the precise arrangement of parts withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and therefore it is notwished to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be requiredby the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In concrete agitating mechanism for the supply hopper of aplastic-concrete pump, the combination with a non-rotatable hopperhaving a bottom opening aiording continuous free communication with theinlet passage of the pump, of an annular structure mounted forconcentric rotation about the exterior thereof; agitating memberscarried by said annular structure and extending into the hopper inposition to act upon concrete mixture therein; power actuated meansarranged to drive said annular structure; and a fixed baffle extendingdownwardly in said hopper in spaced relation to its peripheral wall andaxis arranged to prevent said agitating members from rotating theconcrete mass bodily without agitation.

2. In concrete agitating mechanism for the supply hopper of aplastic-concrete pump, the combination with a non-rotatable hopperhaving a bottom opening affording continuous free communication with theinlet passage of the pump of agitating members mounted for rotationwithin the hopper and arranged to extend into the concrete mass therein;power actuated means for rotating said members; a support exterior ofthe hopper; an arm adjustably secured to said support and extending overthe hopper; and a baffle adjustably secured to said arm and dependinginto the hopper in spaced relation to its peripheral Wall and axisarranged to enter the mass and prevent its rotation bodily by saidagitating members.

3. In apparatus for agitating pre-mixed concrete in the supply hopper ofa concrete pump to prevent segregation of the constituents of themixture, the combination with a stationary pump hopper having a bottomopening aiording continuous free communication with the inlet passage ofthe pump, of a structure mounted upon said hopper for rotation about theexterior thereof; agitating means carried by and rotatable with Saidstructure, consisting of a member extending from said structuredownwardly in said hopper adjacent the side wall thereof and terminatingshort of said opening whereby the latter is maintained free andunobstructed; and power actuated means arranged to drive said structure.

4. In apparatus for agitating pre-mixed concrete in the supply hopper ofa concrete pump to prevent segregation of the constituents of themixture, the combination with a stationary coniform pump hopper having abottom opening affording continuous free communication with the inletpassage of the pump, of a structure mounted upon said hopper forrotation about the exterior thereof; agitating means carried by androtatable with said structure, consisting of elongated arms extendingfrom said structure downwardly in said hopper adjacent the side wallthereof and arranged to work the mixture away from said wall toward thecenter of said hopper, said arms terminating short of said openingwhereby the latter is maintained free and unobstructed; and poweractuated means arranged to drive said structure.

CHARLES F. BALL.

